Jazz Recommendations – 2019

Jan 28 2020

Best of 2019 #27: Caroline Davis – “Alula”

 

It’s not like Caroline Davis sits still very long.  The saxophonist has an eclectic array of projects, and spread out across the vast modern landscape of jazz expressionism.  There’s the post-bop brilliance (and Chicago-hip name) of her Pedway ensemble, her contributions to the post-rock jazz of Whirlpool, her sonic documentary Doors: Chicago Storylines, and her ballad-as-ignition-switch 2018 release Heart Tonic.  Her latest, however, treats all previous projects like they were standard straight-ahead sessions, and now this is when she really stretches out.  By way of comparison, it’s how things shake out.  This excellent electro-acoustic trio set with drummer Greg Saunier and keyboardist Matt Mitchell is a massive upheaval of melodies, of harmonies shattered like glass, and rhythms that dance on the shards while laughing.  This album surprises with loving melodies that break through the clearing, or when it unexpectedly settles into a cadence with the rhythmic quality of crickets chirping loudly at the moon on a clear night.  It is crazily tuneful, even when at its most chaotic.  It’s serious business, but its only business is having fun.  It is the end of ever thinking you know what to expect from a Caroline Davis recording.  Alula is one of the very best recordings of 2019.

Your album personnel:  Caroline Davis (alto saxophone, voice), Matt Mitchell (Prophet 6 synthesizer, modular synth, ARP synthesizer), and Gregory Saunier (drums, percussion, voice).

Released on New Amsterdam Records.

Music from Brooklyn, NY.

I wrote about the album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Cool album cover art by Robert Pollard.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Bandcamp – Amazon

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Jan 28 2020

Best of 2019 #28: Wing Walker Orchestra – “Hazel”

 

Of the various influences referenced by band leader Drew Williams as shaping this album (tUnE-yArDs, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Radiohead, the graphic novel Saga), it’s that of Guillermo Klein’s ensemble Los Guachos that speaks to the heart of Hazel.  For this is folk music, through and through.  Yes, the Wing Walker Orchestra gives voice to a futuristic type of folk music, one perhaps whose roots haven’t yet taken hold in the soil.  But in much the same way that Guillermo Klein does with the materials of modern jazz and Argentinian musics, Drew Williams’ ensemble draws a poignancy and epic expressionism from their own influences, and imbue their music with a quality that is much more than just jazz or folk and yet undeniably both.  The lyricism of Hazel possesses a strange allure, in that way misshapen objects command the attention and redefine the concept of beauty.  Ultimately, it may this characteristic that captures the essence of the album’s winning personality.

Your album personnel:  Drew Williams (bass clarinet), Marta Sánchez (piano), Brad Mulholland (alto sax, clarinet), Eric Trudel (tenor sax), John Blevins (trumpet), Danny Gouker (trumpet), Karl Lyden (trombone), Nick Grinder (trombone), Jeff McLaughlin (guitar), Adam Hopkins (acoustic bass) and Nathan Ellman-Bell (drums).

Released on Ears & Eyes Records.

Music from Jersey City, NJ.

I wrote about the album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Cool cover art by Brendan Culp.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Bandcamp – Amazon

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Jan 28 2020

Best of 2019 #29: Nate Wooley – “Columbia Icefield”

 

The idea of being one with nature has an ubiquitous presence in society, ranging from philosophical reveries by sharp thinkers to superficial representations in pop culture.  But it is often expressed as some idealistic state of being, a plateau of achievement reflecting a rightness in the way of life.  It almost always overlooks the reality that nature is fearsome, and that it can kill, and it does so with a perspective entirely alien to collective society’s norms and systems.  Nature is as imposing and dangerous as it is majestic.  It is as alien as it is symbiotic.  On his February 2019 release, Nate Wooley captures these conflicting dimensions of our relationship with nature through his own contemplation on his relationship with the Columbia Icefield.  And with the help of guitarist Mary Halvorson, pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn, and drummer Ryan Sawyer, the trumpeter has released one of the more compelling, epic works of 2019.

Your album personnel:  Nate Wooley (trumpet), Mary Halvorson (guitar), Susan Alcorn (pedal steel), and Ryan Sawyer (drums).

Released on Northern Spy Records.

Music from Brooklyn, NY.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Bandcamp – Amazon

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Jan 28 2020

Best of 2019 #30: Roberto Negro & Théo Ceccaldi – “Montevago”

 

This site used to have a series called Something Different, in which music that fell outside the jazz mainstream would be featured.  That series was dropped, because, really, something different could describe most of the music featured on Bird is the Worm.  But, even in that context, the music of Roberto Negro and Théo Ceccaldi is something quite different indeed.  Their latest collaboration, the duo project Montevago, is a graphic illustration of their ability to combine alien melodicism, cross-genre hopscotch, and a thick sense of humor in one singular form of expression.  Montevago is chamber music and modern jazz and raw experimentalism shaped as a startling approximation of electronic music.  Both pianist Negro and violinist Ceccaldi are enthusiastic adherents to prepared piano and extended violin techniques, and it goes a long way to expanding the tonal range of musicians who have a pretty long wingspan to begin with.  This music is serious and funny, seriously funny, and fun.  Quite often, it imitates the motion of dance.  It’s just sometimes, the dance is something that could not possibly be executed by the human body… at least, not without, first, brutalizing the laws of physics.  Simply outstanding.

Your album personnel:  Roberto Negro (piano) and Théo Ceccaldi (violin).

Released on the Full Rhizome label.

Music from Paris, France.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Amazon

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Jan 27 2020

Best of 2019 #31: Fabian Almazan Trio – “This Land Abounds With Life”

 

When writing about this album for The Bandcamp Daily, I reference both John Zorn’s Alhambra Love Trio and Marcin Wasilewski Trio’s January as two bird-of-a-feather recordings to This Land Abounds With Life.  On his 2019 release, Fabian Almazan crafts a series of immaculate tunes.  Viewed individually, there isn’t a single track on this album that isn’t pure gold was how I originally phrased it in my original write-up, and I see no reason not to include that statement in my year-end wrap-up.  It’s not just the finely crafted melodies or the rhythms that flow out like riveting conversation, but in how the pianist expands on the best qualities of each, making each piece resonate as something larger than it is when viewed in isolation.  And, of even greater import is how this carries over from piece to piece, as if each composition is having an undercurrent of dialog with each other piece throughout the duration of the recording.  It’s the equivalent of an architectural marvel providing a glimpse of the intricate skeleton of infrastructure that lies behind the ornamentation, illustrating how many types of beauty contribute to the beauty of the whole.  Almazan is doing some special stuff with his Biophilia Records label, and it’s so much more than just a vehicle to feature his own music.  Be that as it may, it’s a welcome opportunity to be able to shine the spotlight on one of his own gems on the Best of 2019.

Your album personnel:  Fabian Almazan (piano, percussion, electronics), Linda May Han Oh (acoustic & electric basses), Henry Cole (drums), and guests: Megan Gould (violin), Monica Davis (violin), Karen Waltuch (viola) and Eleanor Norton (cello).

Released on Biophilia Records.

Music from New York City.

I wrote about this album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Bandcamp – Amazon

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